Why Ryan Gosling Made Blade Runner 2 His First Big Budget Film

Ryan Gosling explains why he’s glad Blade Runner 2049 was his first experience making a big-budget blockbuster film. And for many, the idea of making a long gap sequel to such a beloved science-fiction film might have felt like an impossible endeavor. But to Warner Bros.’ credit, the promotional material and trailers for Blade Runner 2049 up until this point have been nothing but exciting, and as a result, have been met with a fair amount of positivity from even the more hesitant Blade Runner fans out there.

Now, with the Oscar-nominated combo of director Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins working together on Blade Runner 2049, the film’s visual artistry doesn’t necessarily come as much of a surprise. But Blade Runner 2049 is also notable for being the first real, big-budget blockbuster film that Ryan Gosling has ever made.

While recently speaking with EW, Gosling opened up about why he waited so long to enter into the blockbuster world, and why he feels privileged to have made Blade Runner 2049 his first foray into that kind of production. In addition to Gosling’s comments, you can also check out a brand new image from the film below:

“I guess. I try not to discriminate against budget, but they never felt right. I’m glad I waited. [Blade Runner] was one of the first films that I saw that I didn’t know how to feel when it was over. The line between heroes and villains was so blurred. It’s not a hero’s journey in any way. When I was a kid that was the storyline I had seen. Thematically, there’s just so much there — it was rich, it was melancholy, it was romantic. It’s so special. So many other things have stolen ideas from it, but they could never steal its soul. I felt lucky to enter that world.”

Considering just the sheer size of a production like the one for Blade Runner 2049, it’s possible that sometimes the money might be spent on making sure its stars are as comfortable as possible. But after joking about the exotic food catering that populated the movie’s set, Gosling said one of the best aspects of working on Blade Runner 2049, was how clear it was that the studio had invested most in making the film’s world as real and gorgeous as possible:

“I’m lucky for many reasons that this was my big-budget film, but one of them is that you could see where the money was going. The sets were so beautiful, and every aesthetic choice was for the cleanest, most efficient, elegant way to communicate story. When [cinematographer] Roger Deakins creates a frame, half your job is done for you.”

Gosling’s comments only further reinforce the high amount of detail put into the film’s sets/environments that has already been on display heavily in all of the previous Blade Runner 2049 trailers and promos. Since the world of the first Blade Runner is still one of the most memorable sci-fi dystopias in cinema history, it’s comforting to see how determined the sequel’s filmmakers were to make sure they replicated that same feeling and mood again. So while Blade Runner 2049 will still be facing some unrealistically high expectations leading up to its release, it’s hard to think of a group of people more capable of living up to them than the crew that’s been assembled here.